Why did you choose to be a conservative republican?

I was raised as a democrat, and it might surprise you to know that there are a large number of religious people that are democrats. I am not a republican, I am an Independent, my views are based on fiscal and moral conservative values.

My decision was based on what the constitution says and what the democrats do. No where in the constitution does it state that the government is to provide for anything other than the common defense.

It does call for the promotion of the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; but does so in limited ways, notice that it tells you how this promotion is supposed to be, nowhere does it say it should be funded nor provided.

The Promote the General Welfare clause is not one that gives authority to hand out welfare, it is the authority to tax and spend. How else would the government 'provide' for the common defense if not for taxes and spending.

I do not see Welfare as being wrong, I see the way that it is ran as being wrong. Welfare should be used for the support of people that are disabled, elderly, this is a long term proposition. Many will find themselves in a temporary bind and need assistance and need temporary work.

Those that need temporary help should be required to be actively seeking employment, submit to drug testing to insure that they are employable and be required, if necessary to enroll in work training programs so that they would gain knowledge necessary to get a job outside of their normal skills.

I believe that our country should have a balanced budget, spending no more than we take in. There will always be times that this would be impossible to achieve such was the case of the WW's and at minimum Afghanistan following 9/11. Notice though that these fall in line with the constitutional requirement to provide for the common defense. I would go further to say that there are natural disasters such as Katrina and such that need to be addressed.

No one has an absolute right to medical care, to say that you do is to say that doctors must care for you regardless and thus a doctor would be a slave to the people. The 13th amendment abolished slavery.

I stopped being a democrat and became a republican when I started to be able to understand what the constitution says, I became an independent when I saw that the republicans were not all that different from democrats. Maybe more so after seeing that the once highly held moral values of the republican party had deteriorated, though they still seem to have higher moral values than most democrats.

At some point you have to do forget what you want and want what is best for the country. Massive debt is not good for the country, it makes us indebted to a lot of countries that would just as soon see us disappear.

Over regulation is not good for the country. It is pretty easy to see that many companies have abandon the US because it is far to difficult to run a business in this country when regulations have been put in place that may well cost $8,000 per employee to implement.

I would rather see a $15 per hour corporate minimum wage and a 0% corporate tax rate than a $7.25 hour minimum wage and a 35% tax rate. My bet is given the two options businesses would rather do business here.

Like most kids, I started out with Liberal views. This continued into college. However after college, I started to listen to some Conservative talk radio from time to time. I found that the shows, namely Rush Limbaugh, addressed the issues with provided substance (although poked some fun at them here and there too) and posed honest questions that stuck with me. Those points and questions made me think (as they still do today) about issues instead of just reacting to them as I did prior.

I quickly found the Liberalism I had, never addressed the issues substantively. It was more about reacting to issues (often just school yard mockery) rather than thinking and trying to understand them. My "Liberalism" fell away to the journey of understanding of Conservatism. And it is a journey, not a destination. When listening to Liberal commentary now, I hear the holes in the arguments, which are often filled with just angry, spiteful rhetoric.

Since then, I have become informed on a number of issues with Conservative views from various sources to challenge and make me think. These views seek truth, attacking Republicans almost as much as Democrats to find it.

Philosophically, I came to see the wisdom of Conservatism and it's rooting in the principles of the Founding Fathers and reflection in the Constitution. I have come to understand the benefits of equal justice, equal opportunity, individualism, Natural (Individual) Rights and an emphasis on charity. I have also come to appreciate the role that religion has played in introducing and weaving these principles into the fabric of the new American Colonial culture. This gave us a new way of thinking and living, regardless of what religion, if any, one subscribes too. THIS is why the US is sometimes referred to as a Christian nation, not due to any religion actually practiced or fear of one.

I could go on and on about the importance of Natural Rights versus Human Rights. The wisdom of limited Federal government, the power and freedom found in free market Capitalism, the slow, methodical power of Progressivism has in making a State of dependency and sapping entrepreneurship out of the country, et al.

Liberals measure compassion by how many people government can take care of. Conservatism measures compassion by how many people government DOESN'T have to take care of. That is because those people can now manage their own goals for their own lives.

Do we even need to talk about government spending and the build up of debt?

My first job was as a cashier in a grocery store. Every single day I would have people come through my line and buy $100 of food with food stamps, and then $100 of beer, cigarettes, lotto, etc. with cash.

That was the beginning. Since then, everything I have learned about liberty and freedom, and our Constitution has lead me farther down that path.

How can any compassionate human being be anything other than a freedom-loving conservative? I simply can't understand it.

I was a republican because my parents raised me as such, that was before I got a mind of my own. Now I vote for whoever I believe fits my ideals instead of my parents. I'm more a libertarian conservative now. Republicans are in no way conservative, at least most arent.

At 60 years of age I have seen the decline of this country and the the increase of the government control over it. I was a deluded democrat in my youth but even as I say that I know some young liberal is going to say what a bunch of crap. All I can say is you will see the truth some day.

Well some had to do with my religion I was raised in, then I thought I grew up in college, key word thought, because when I actually grew up I realized Most conservative views just make more sense.

Being raised by conservative parents was a pretty big factor but it just sorta happened.

I gradually became a conservative. It just made more sense to me.

I didn't choose to be a conservative, common sense dictated it. I am not a Republican though.

I didn't choose. My common sense tells me that the liberal path is a path to destruction. If you don't believe me just look at Greece, Italy, and several other countries in grave danger of collapsing.

Common sense.